


Drawn to You

by Pennyplainknits



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: cliche_bingo, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-10
Updated: 2010-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-06 02:30:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pennyplainknits/pseuds/Pennyplainknits
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><b>Summary</b>:Dealing with Doctor McKay isn't the only thing Evan Lorne has to cope with in his new job.  There's also the matter of a certain lanky botanist...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drawn to You

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer**:SGA owned by MGM. This is a work of derivative fiction, written for pleasure not profit.
> 
>  
> 
> **Notes**: This is a companion piece to [Location, Location, Location](http://pennyplainknits.livejournal.com/17027.html) and may make more sense if you've read that first. Written for the 'Minor Characters' Square for [](http://community.livejournal.com/cliche_bingo/profile)[**cliche_bingo**](http://community.livejournal.com/cliche_bingo/). Rescued from the delete pile, beta'd and generally prodded and poked by [](http://villainny.livejournal.com/profile)[**villainny**](http://villainny.livejournal.com/) who, among other things, pointed out that it would be impossible for Evan to shoulder-bump Parrish without the aid of a chair.

The man Evan assumed was Doctor McKay only stopped yelling into the phone long enough to beckon him into the office.

"No, do _not_ send anyone else. I've taken matters into my own hands. Yes, well pardon me for expecting _basic literacy_ from your employees. This is a University, notMcDonalds . Goodbye." He slammed the phone down and turned extraordinarily blue eyes on Evan. Suddenly a lot of John's unusual enthusiasm became clear.

"Please tell me you're Evan Lorne," the man said.

"Guilty as charged," Evan said, holding out his hand.

"Doctor Rodney McKay," McKay said, shaking it. "I don't have a lot of time, I have lectures this morning, but your desk is out here." He gestured to what might have been a desk hidden under piles of papers, files and journals. The top of the computer monitor poked above the mess like a square, plastic iceberg.

"Um," Evan said, at a bit of a loss, "I guess I'll try and find it."

"Yes, temp number four, or was it five? Anyway, she didn't believe in filing cabinets. And then I had to find my lecture notes to copy, and well," Rodney gestured, "It got a bit out of hand. Look, for today, can you just unearth the PC and block out my diary for a couple of hours tomorrow and we can go through things." He looked at his watch. "Damn, ten minutes."

The phone rang again. Evan picked it up.

"Doctor McKay's office?"

"I need McKay. Now," the person on the other end said brusquely.

"I'm afraid that he's unavailable at the moment. May I take a message?" Evan turned over a flier advertising a lecture series and found a pencil in the debris of the desk.

"He is not unavailable. Tell him Calvin Kavanagh needs him. _Now_."

Evan wrote

_Kavanagh?_

on the flier and held it up, the phone wedged under his chin. Rodney shook his head vehemently.

"As I said sir, Dr McKay is unavailable." Evan spoke smoothly over the spluttering. "You may like to call back, or I can make you an appointment for later in the week.

"Listen you- who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Dr McKay's PA. Evan Lorne."

"Well, tell him from me that hiding behind his _secretary_ will only work for so long." And with that, Kavanagh disconnected.

"Kavanagh?" Evan asked.

"Inferior electro-physicist, who somehow wormed his way onto one of my research groups," Rodney said, halfway out of the door. "Look, just do the best you can with the mess. There's a coffee maker in my office, don't break it."

He shut the door, leaving Evan alone with the mountains of paperwork.

"What have you got me into, Shep?" he wondered aloud, turning to the files.

***

A few days solid work, and Evan could actually see the desk. He wouldn't say his filing system was perfect just yet, but at least he didn't have to check his email knee deep in old Research Board minutes and lecture notes, and he'd mastered the coffee machine finally, even thought McKay still clucked round it like an anxious hen. McKay was- loud. Really really loud and sarcastic. He seemed to have alienated half of the physics and engineering departments, while the other half held him in various shades of grudging awe. He yelled, indiscriminately and on a regular basis, but could be calmed by applications of coffee and sarcasm. He argued as easily as breathing, and never backed down from a confrontation.

Which made what Rodney asked him to do all the odder.

"Evan," Rodney said, picking up a pile of files, and putting it down again. "Can you go across to Botany and pick something up for me?"

Evan raised his eyebrows.

"PA, Doctor McKay, not errand boy. Besides," he waved at the sea of paper, "you want these drafts by the weekend I'd better get started."

"It's just- there's someone there I don't particularly want to deal with at the moment," Rodney said, shooting him a pleading look. "I've called ahead and they're expecting you."

Which is how Evan found himself trudging across campus in the middle of a downpour.

He still didn't know exactly what an engineer slash physicist could want from the Botany department, but McKay had been pretty adamant about not going himself.

"Name?" the receptionist barked, looking intently at him as he dripped on the carpet.

"Evan Lorne." He just managed not to salute- old habits died hard.

He obviously checked out, because she said "Greenhouse Four, on the roof. You'll need to take the elevator."

Evan tried to wipe the water out of his eyes as he rode up to the roof. The greenhouse was locked, so he pressed the buzzer on the intercom.

"Yes?" a pleasant male voice asked.

"Hi, this is Evan Lorne, Doctor McKay's PA. I'm here to pick up a briefcase for him."

"OK, come on in."

The air in the greenhouse was thick and humid, and smelled of damp earth and green plants. Greenhouse Four was given over to exotics, as far as Evan could tell; orchids, creepers, weird green moss growing on sections of tree trunk, and ferns, ferns _everywhere_. He could see students measuring leaves and potting up seedlings on various benches, but he felt a bit of a loss for who to approach.

"Mr Lorne?"

Evan turned to see someone emerging from behind a curtain of trailing creeper. He was, wow, _really_ tall, with gingerish brown hair, and light blue eyes. He also had a sizable streak of earth across one cheekbone, and muddy hands.

"Evan," Evan said.

The guy wiped his hand on his dirt-stained jeans, and offered it.

"Doctor David Parrish. Is it raining?"

Evan shook water out of his eyes and just _looked_ at him.

David laughed. It transformed his whole face, from absent minded professor, to, actually, really cute. "Sorry, I guess that's a stupid question. We're in our own little world up here." He dug around in a drawer and produced a roll of paper towel. "Here. It's not much , but you can at least wipe off.

"Thanks." Evan took the roll and ripped off about three feet of towel, wiping his face. He squeezed as much water out of his hair as he could, but his clothes still clung unpleasantly.

"So, Doctor McKay's case?" he asked, throwing the towel into the trash with a wet plop.

"Oh yes, Katie asked me to look after it. Um, hang on," David looked around, then bent his long legs to look under the bench.

"Ah, here it is." It wasn't really a case, more like a padded laptop bag crammed so full the zips barely met.

"Papers and journals I think," Parrish commented. "I think he left them at Katie's."

"Well, thanks," Evan said, taking the bag. It weighed a ton. "Guess I'll go back out into the rain."

Parrish wiped some condensation off the window and peered out.

"It's still raining, but it is clearing up. You'll only get wet again if you go out now. Give it fifteen minutes and you should be OK."

"You a weather expert Doc?" Evan said, joining him at the window.

Parrish grinned down at him. "No, just used to working outside. Look, stay here for a bit, and I guarantee you'll be able to get back to engineering before the next downpour. I could use a break anyway." He moved a pile of papers off a chair and sat down.

"OK, thanks." Evan hitched a hip onto the bench, and looked around at the plants again. Dry greenhouse, a cute guy, he could afford to waste a few minutes.

"So," he said, "tell me about ferns."

***

"You've got another viewing on Friday," Evan said, tapping at the office door.

"John called?" Rodney asked, looking up. His whole face lit up. It was almost appealing.

"You were with a student. I've put it in your schedule. And Dr Z needs to meet you as soon as possible, so I told him to come this afternoon."

It was easier to tell Rodney important things. He'd check his email eventually, but he had so many demands on his time that he relied on Evan to filter the important stuff. This included John, Doctor Zelenka, and his students. Kavanagh was somewhere below 'plant life' in the hierarchy of importance. Since he persisted in treating Evan like an idiot he had no qualms in giving him the runaround. yesterday he'd kept him on hold for forty minutes after Kavanagh had subjected him to a 10 minute tirade on admin staff who thought they were more important than _real_ academics, only to then 'discover' that Rodney had been called to an important meeting. Rodney, who had been there the whole time, had laughed delightedly, and treated them both to doughnuts with their afternoon coffee.

"I'm going to lunch now," he continued. "Doctor Z will be along at two o'clock."

Evan liked the campus, (at least when it wasn't raining) and the engineering staff room smelled distressingly of mould, so he'd taken to eating outside. The weak autumn sun was still cheery, and Evan found an empty bench overlooking the green in front of the library. The warm autumn light tinged the buildings red and gold, and glanced off the drifts of oak leaves building up under the trees. Evan pulled his sketchbook out along with his lunch to try and capture the scene.

He was just cross hatching a branch of one of the trees when the sunlight was blocked out from on high.

"May I sit here?"

Evan looked up, shading his eyes.

"Doc," he said. The botanist from the other day. The very tall, cute, Canadian, botanist.

"David," the botanist corrected him. "Can I join you?"

"Sure." Evan shifted to make room.

David sat next to him, stretching out his legs.

"I must admit," he said, "I'm kind of impressed you're still here. McKay's rants are legendary. Katie said he goes through temps like he goes through coffee."

Evan chewed on the crust of his sandwich.

"He's not so bad once you get used to him. I've had tougher COs."

"If you say so," David said, doubtfully.

"So," Evan said, casting around for something to say, "ferns still....ferny?"

David looked at him.

"Ferny?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, give me a break Doc. I majored in Languages and went into the Air Force. I don't know the first thing about plants."

David chuckled.

"OK, well, then yes, they are still 'ferny'."

Evan turned the page of his sketchbook and started drawing again.

"You draw?" David asked.

"All the time, since I was little. All the way through school, Bosnia, Afghanistan, here."

He'd never been able to resist a blank wall, or a box of crayons, and the sketches had long formed part of the fabric of his day.

David leafed through the Moleskine, looking at the sketches. The roof of the Engineering building in twilight. McKay, phone pressed to his ear. A brief, whirlwind sketch of his office.

"This is one of mine," David said. tracing his finger over a sketch of a fern. "I didn't see you draw this."

"I did it afterwards- I like the shape of the leaves. I had to draw it from memory, so I don't think it's quite right."

"No," David said, pointing to where the fronds curled "here, the angle is different. Can I?" He held out his hand for the pencil.

"Look," he said, sketching, "more like this, see?"

"You draw too?" Evan asked, watching David's hands, huge, but graceful, as the fern took shape.

"Only plants. My first degree, they made me take a semester of botanical drawing." He shaded the fern, and handed the book back.

"I always drew in the margins at school. Never really grew out of it." Evan explained, closing the book, and gathering his things together. "I'd better go; or McKay will be eviscerating his colleagues again."

David chuckled. "We can't have that." He stood, and held out his hand. "Good to see you again Evan." Evan shook his hand. He had dirt under his nails.

"Yeah Doc, you too."

***

"Back already?" McKay said, dropping some files onto his desk.

"I had my break. And I feared for your sanity otherwise," Evan deadpanned.

"I coped perfectly well before you came, Lorne," McKay said, mouth twisting.

"Which was why I had to excavate my PC on my first day."

"Where do you eat anyway? I never see you in the staff room," McKay asked, leafing absently through the papers.

"No offense, but I have no idea how anyone eats in there. I've eaten in better-smelling mess tents. I ate on campus. With a guy from Botany, as it happens."

Evan studied McKay's face, curious to see whether he'd say anything. Instead, Rodney just snorted

"Botanists," cryptically, and disappeared into his office.

"What's wrong with botanists?" Evan asked the empty room, then turned to check his emails. And if he absently sketched a large hand cradling a fern in the margins of one report, well, he though nothing of it.

***

"Are office hours open?"

Evan looked up, a long way up, and smiled.

"David! What brings you here? And no, he's lecturing."

"Good." David answered. "I won't have to answer Katie's questions if I don't see him."

This was getting intriguing, Evan thought.

"And this is what bought me here," David continued, bringing his hands around from behind his back and setting a plant pot on the desk. "Plant have been proven to create a better working environment. This is the White Rabbit fern. It's the one I drew for you the other day."

Evan reached out and stroked the fronds gently.

"It's, it's nice," he said, pleasantly flustered and a bit at a loss. "Will I kill it? I'm not good at plants."

"Ferns are fairly sturdy. As long as you don't forget to water it it will be fine."

"I dunno," Evan said cautiously, "maybe you'll have to come by pretty often and check on it." He smiled, surprised at how easily the flirting came, after the disaster that was Cam.

David laughed. It suited him.

"You don't actually have to think up excuses to see me." He checked his watch. "Damn, I have to go." He reached out and brushed his fingertips over the fern, fleeting touch over the back of Evan's hand, then grinned and said: "Don't kill it Evan," before shutting the door behind him.

"Hmmmmm," Evan said, feeling a flutter of amused anticipation in his stomach, unexpected, but not unwelcome.

***

Rodney noticed the fern straight away and questioned him about it, and he had to put up with amused and incredulous glances all afternoon. Evan was pretty sure Rodney could read between the lines, which made it even more amusing that Rodney thought all John wanted was to find him a decent house.

"What's the deal with Rodney?" Evan asked David as they ate lunch in the Law School Common Room. It was raining, and the Common Room was half empty, with had very comfortable sofas. It had fast become a habit to eat together, even if some days it was hard to co ordinate their lunch breaks. It was the oddest courtship; half the time Evan wasn't even sure if that was what they were doing. David could just be being friendly, ferns notwithstanding. It was hard, now, to trust his instincts about things like this.

"Deal?" David asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"He was with Doctor Brown, right?" Evan had got the story out of John in bits and pieces.

"Yeah, he lived with Katie. Why?"

"I just didn't think he was.." Evan paused, so used to not talking about it, then decided it couldn't cost anyone their job here, and carried on "interested in women. I've seen the way he looks-"

"At you?" David interrupted, and managed to sound irritated and amused at the same time.

"No! Not at me. At John, my friend that recommended me for the job."

David relaxed minutely.

"Well, I've only been here a few years, and all that time he was dating Katie. Though rumour has it before that he was seeing Jackson over in the Institute of Antiquity."

David opened his lunch, a perfect bento box that Evan felt put his BLT to shame.

"Jackson?" he asked. "Can I try that?" he added, pointing to a tuna roll.

"Here," David said, and passed the box over. "Doctor Daniel Jackson. Archaeologist, our answer to Indiana Jones. I worked with him on somepaleobotany stuff."

"And?" Evan asked, chewing. The tuna roll was delicious.

"And, he's very attractive. And bitchy as hell." David grinned, holding out another roll.

"Sounds a good match then," Evan laughed, and took a bite.

 

"Hey," he asked as they walked back to Engineering. Botany was in the other direction, but somehow David always ended up walking back with him. "Would it really bother you if McKay was coming on to me?"

"Yes!" David said instantly.

"Well, don't worry," Evan said, nudging him. "He's totally not my type."

He felt a little twist of pleasure at David's grin as he waved goodbye. Progress

***

"You haven't forgotten about tomorrow, have you?" Heather asked, after she'd grilled him about his personal life for five minutes, as always.

"Tomorrow?" Evan said guiltily. His sister's phone call had woken him from hazy but pleasant dreams of jungles and large, strong hands on his skin, and he still wasn't fully awake.

"The face painting! Letty's Girl Scout fundraiser! You _promised_ Evan, ages ago!"

Evan sighed and sat up in bed, feeling the last threads of sleep and arousal slip away.

"Can't I just buy a load of cookies instead?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"No! She's all excited, and the face painting raised the most out of all the stalls last year. Be there, Evan," she ordered, the older sister overtones familiar after years of being told what to do.

"OK," Evan sighed, and flopped back onto the pillow. Bang went his plans for Sunday.

***

Evan flexed his fingers. So far he'd painted three kittens, two princesses, a great white shark, and a cockatoo. His hands and shirt cuff were stained with face paints, and his fingers were starting to stiffen up.

"OK sweetheart," he said to the next girl, a redhead with freckles across her nose, and a Wall-E t-shirt tucked into her blue jeans, "What'll it be?"

"A lizard," she answered.

"Ren, the nice man can't-Evan?"

"David?" Evan said, looking up from his paints and forcing a smile, "You didn't tell me you had kids." He tried not to feel too disappointed. David really was just being friendly it seemed.

Ren tugged on David's hand. "Who's he?" she asked, curiously. She looked like David. The red hair, freckles, and she was already taller than Letty even though Evan guessed she was about the same age. She must have gotten the brown eyes from her mom though.

David squatted down next to her.

"Mr Evan here works with me."

"With the _plants_?" Ren wrinkled her nose, scorn obvious.

Evan laughed, trying to squash the feeling that someone had just scooped a hole in his stomach. "No, I just make sure people go where they are supposed to go. Now, you wanted a lizard?"

"Yes!" she nodded.

"Ren, why don't you pick something easier?" David prompted, passing his hand over her hair soothingly.

"What are you saying about my painting, Doc?" Evan teased. "I did the great white, a lizard is a snip." He was flirting, even though he knew he shouldn't. The girl in front of him was a fairly big clue that David was off limits.

He dipped his sponge in the light green paint.

"OK sweetie, you need to sit still and not talk for a bit." he said.

"That'll be the day," David teased. Ren just glared at him, then sat on her hands and pressed her lips together.

Evan dabbed the green all over her face, quickly spreading the colour.

"So, which one is yours?" David asked, and Evan heard the forced casualness. As if he had any right to be upset. He smoothed the light green up toRen's hairline, then dipped his brush in darker green and made small crescents for scales, all along her jaw.

"I'm just an uncle- my sister is the group leader," he explained. He continued the scales up onto Ren's forehead, and she flinched.

"You OK?" he asked.

"It's cold," she complained.

"I'm nearly done, promise," he said. He switched brushed and added some blue shading onto the scales, blending it in.

"I didn't know you had a sister," David said. He squatted back down to look at Ren's face.

Evan turned. David was suddenly really close. It was unfair, making Evan flustered with things he couldn't want.

"I'm an open book Doc. Anything you want to know, you just got to ask." He'd meant it as a reproach, that David had missed out something so important, but it came out more a breathless invitation, the giddiness that came upon him when they were together completely inappropriate now.

David squeezed his shoulder as he got back up.

"I'll remember that." he said, and Evan didn't think he meant more questions about family members. Unfair, unfair.

"OK Ren, close your eyes for me," Evan said. He quickly painted two yellow eyes on her eyelids, and added slitted pupils.

"Keep your eyes closed for a minute," he said, as he washed the brushes.

"That's amazing," David said, looking down at his daughter.

"Can I open my eyes yet?" Ren asked impatiently.

Evan reshaped the tips of the brushes.

"Yes, but carefully," he said. He held up the mirror.

Ren's eyes widened as she saw her reflection.

"AWESOME!" she said. Then she closed one eye to see the yellow eye. "Cool!" She jumped up and nudged David closer to the chair. "You next!"

"I think Mr Evan only does kids face painting," David wavered, clearing trying to find a way out.

Evan grinned a cocked his head at the collection tin.

"C'mon Doc, it's for a good cause..."

"Oh, OK," David said, after glancing at Ren's hopeful face. He sat down on the tiny chair, legs up round his ears.

"Don't you dare laugh," he warned.

Evan bit his lip.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Can you paint something other than my face? I'd rather not do my grocery shopping looking like, a, a giraffe."

"You mean more than you do already?" Evan teased, unable to resist.

"Like I haven't heard _that_ before." David said.

"Give me your hand," Evan said picking up a brush. It was foolish, but if it was going to be his only chance to touch David like this he wanted to know what those hands felt like in his.

"What?"

"I'll paint your hand. That OK with you, Ren?"

"I suppose," she said, doubtfully, sitting on the floor.

David held out his left hand, and Evan cradled it in his plam.

"Right," he said, trying to ignore how big and warm David's hand was, "I've got just the thing."

He dipped the narrow brush in green pain, and started painting lines on the back of David's hand, up to his wrist and back down, spiralling around his fingers.

David shifted slightly.

"You all right?" Evan breathed, painting more lines.

"It...tickles," David said, voice suddenly hoarse.

"I'm sorry," Evan said, unrepentant. He mixed a greyish green and began adding small leaves, branching out all over the back of David's hand, covering the freckles. The small blond hairs caught and dragged at the brush.

"No you're not," David said, shifting so that his fingers grazed the inside of Evan's wrist.

This time it was Evan that shivered. Mixed messages didn't even begin to cover it.

"What're you painting?" Ren's voice broke the tension.

"Ivy, it's on the outside of the buildings where I work," Evan explained. He added some shading to the leaves, and changed to a hair-fine brush to mark in the veins.

"That OK?" he asked, sitting back in the chair.

"It's a work of art," David replied.

"Well, in that case," Evan said, picking the brush back up," I'd better sign it." And before David could protest he had written 'ENL' in the leaf at the base of David's thumb. He had a small, mean-spirited twinge of pleasure at imagining David's girlfriend? wife? seeing it, his mark, on David's body, even if it would wash off.

David's eyes darted between the initials and Evan's face and back again, and he made an abortive move forward before Ren tugged at his sleeve.

"We have to pay," she reminded him.

Evan held out the tin and David shoved some money in.

"You need to let that dry for a few minutes, and it'll wash right off with soap and water," he said, remembering what he should have told Ren as well.

"Come on, let's get hot dogs," Ren urged, apparently satisfied that all debts had been paid.

"Well, I guess I might see you at work," David said, sounding reluctant. He had no business to, Evan thought irritably, no business at all.

"Yeah, you have a good weekend," Evan said, and watched them go, Ren tugging David behind her, doing the perfect happy family thing.

***  
Evan hung back at the end of the fundraiser, helping to move furniture and sweep the floors. Around him the volunteer parents stacked chairs and washed cups, and even Letty was wiping the plastic cups they'd used for the lemonade. He moved automatically, trying not to think too much about David.

"Thanks for today Evan," Heather said, shifting the box she carried to one hip so she could peck his cheek.

"No problem," Evan said.

"What's the matter?" she asked. "You were fine this morning, now you look like someone kicked your puppy." She peered more closely at him.

"I'm ok, just tired," Evan said. "Painting all those faces is hard work."

"You can't fool me," Heather said, "you should know that by now. Has it got anything to do with that guy you mentioned at work?"

Evan admitted defeat. "Yeah. He, turned out to be involved with someone. Got a daughter and everything." It really shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. It wasn't like they were even dating.

Heather put the box down and hugged him.

"Just like with Cam," she said, squeezing tight. "That sucks."

"What sucks?" Letty said, running over with the dishtowel draped round her neck.

"You're Uncle Evan is just a bit sad," Heather said.

Letty hugged him too.

"Never mind Uncle Evan. You can come to our house for tea, and we can watch _Mary Poppins_. The penguins are funny!"

"Sounds great," Evan said, forcing a smile on his face, when all he wanted to do was crawl under the covers and sulk.

***

When he got into work Monday morning the receptionist called out to him

"Hang on Evan, something's been delivered for you."

"Thanks," Evan smiled at her, and he took the plastic bag and climbed the stairs to the office. He could already hear Rodney berating someone in the inner office as he switched the computer on and turned his attention to the bag.

It was another plant, a potted ivy. In the bottom of the bag was a note. This was ridiculous. He had half a mind to toss the ivy in the trash, but it seemed churlish.

_ Your ivy took half an hour to wash off. Had to persuade Ren she couldn't go to school as a lizard, not matter how much it would scare RickyHartigan._

Would you like to get dinner tomorrow? Around 7pm?

p.s. This is a date.

This had to stop. He had to get to the bottom of it. He dialled David's number.

"What are you playing at?," he said brusquely when David answered.

"What?" David asked, sounding confused.

"You flirt with me for weeks, you send me plants, you make me think- and then you turn up with your _daughter_?" Evan hissed into the phone. "I'm not being that guy, not again."

"Eva-" David said, but Evan slammed the phone down before he could finish.

"What's the matter with you" Rodney asked, coming out of his office.

"People are assholes," Evan said angrily.

"That's what I've been telling you," Rodney said, switching the coffee maker on.

Evan had spent fifteen minutes chewing out Rodney's publishers, who just _had_ to move the meeting, Rodney's request notwithstanding- and consequently was feeling a bit better, when David strode through the door, a determined expression on his face.

Evan stood up.

"I told you-" he began.

"She's not my daughter." David said.

"She's- what?" Evan asked, confused.

"Ren. She's my _niece_!" He pulled out a his wallet and showed Evan a picture of Ren with a man who looked a lot like David, and a woman withRen's brown eyes. "That's my brother and his wife."

"Niece?" Evan asked, hope blossoming.

"Evan, I've been flirting with you for weeks. Don't you think I'd have told you if I had a girlfriend? Kids? Come on, who's that much of a bastard?"

"My last boyfriend," Evan said tartly.

"Shit." David sat down on the sofa. "I'm sorry Evan. I honestly thought you knew how I felt." He frowned, then a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "So, when you were painting my hand?"

"I thought you were an asshole to be flirting with me when you were straight and taken, especially in front of your daughter."

"God, what a mess," David groaned, passing his hand over his forehead. "I should have been more direct; I've just never been good at this, you know?"

Evan walked round the desk and sat next to him, the feeling of _relief_ almost too much to handle.

"I shouldn't have assumed," he said, slowly. "It's just- we- Cam and me - were together pretty much all through my service. We had to keep it quiet, but I thought we'd be together after, you know? Then the airplane lands, and his wife is there on the tarmac." The betrayal still rankled. He still couldn't believe he hadn't known.

David moved his hand, slowly, and when Evan made no move he picked Evan's hand up off his thigh and wove their fingers together. Evan felt heat tingle up his arm.

"He was an idiot," David said staunchly. "But I'm not, and I'd really like to take you out."

"Really?" Evan said, leaning forward.

"Really," David replied, brushing his lips against Evan's in a gentle close-mouthed kiss.

"Well, since you put it like that, OK," Evan said, feeling slightly giddy with relief and anticipation.

"Great!" David smiled.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

"It's a surprise- I'll meet you outside Engineering at 6:30 tomorrow, OK?"

"It's a date," Evan said, kissing him again briefly.

"I know- I told you that, remember?" David laughed.

"Go, prune some ferns or something. I'll see you tomorrow." Evan said, smiling as he disentangled his fingers. He was still smiling when David pecked him once again on the mouth, and let himself out.

"Evan, can you-why are you smiling like that?" McKay asked abruptly, putting a pile of files down on the desk.

"Like what?" Evan asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Like _that_ Rodney said, waving his hands. "And are you trying to turn this office into a greenhouse? What's this?" He picked up the ivy and gestured with it.

"Careful!" Evan said, taking it off him and putting it down, gently smoothing the leaves and tendrils back in place around the support.

"Parrish!" Rodney exclaimed, and Evan felt the tips of his ears heat.

"You have the weirdest courtship rituals," Rodney scoffed.

"How's the house hunting going?" Evan countered, still feeling lighthearted. Like plants were any weirder than looking at homes. Although, knowing John, he probably thought Rodney really was just looking at houses.

"Oh, well I've got that appointment today," Rodney said. "Anything will be better that the last one John showed me."

"Well, Shep'll find you something, I'm sure." Evan said, mind half on tomorrow's date.

"Um, Evan? Is John, I mean, does he.....?" Rodney tailed off, the first time Evan had ever seen him at a loss for words. McKay shook his head. "Never mind. Now, I need copies of the latest results from Simpson's group. I'm busy all this morning, so I'm unavailable if anyone calls."

"And this afternoon?" Evan asked, making a note.

"My appointment with John is at lunch, but I don't know how long we'll be, so don't book anything for this afternoon." Rodney looked sternly at him. "Especially not Kavanagh."

"Yessir," Evan said

Rodney rolled his eyes

"_Flyboys_".

***

"You know, when you promised me dinner, this was not what I expected." Evan said as he opened the carton of beef in black bean sauce and set it on the bench.

"Sorry, again," David said, passing the chopsticks and opening another carton. "But Ingmar had a family emergency and there has to be a Botanist on the appeals committee tonight. I didn't want to cancel on you, especially given, well, you know."

"Hey," Evan said, at the disappointed look on David's face. "I've got great company, and fascinating surroundings," he waved the chopsticks around the greenhouse, "all in all, I've had worse first dates."

"I really will make it up to you," David promised, and he looked so sad that Evan just had to put the chopsticks down, tug him close, and kiss him. A proper kiss this time, not the closed mouth pecks they'd shared yesterday. Open-mouthed and wet and tasting of mint.

"Relax," he said, kissing him again. David hmmmed happily and nipped at his bottom lip. "We've only got an hour, so stop wasting it apologising, OK?"

"Sorry," David said automatically. Evan just glared and they both burst out laughing.

"So," Evan said around a mouthful of noodles, "What were your original plans for tonight, before they got derailed.

"Well," David said, shifting closer, "Ren was pushing for me to take you to the zoo to look at the Kimodo dragon, but I thought cotton candy and suspicious hot dogs might not be your idea of a good time."

"You talk about me to your niece?" Evan said, oddly pleased.

"She hasn't stopped talking about _you_," David said, moving even closer on the bench and stealing a piece of broccoli. "I'm wondering whether I should be jealous."

"Absolutely," Evan deadpanned. "Redheads make me crazy. Luckily, so do strawberry blonds."

"Oh," David said, looking awkwardly pleased. "Well, that's good to know."

They ate in silence for a few seconds, then Evan asked, more for something to say than anything else.

"So, you're close to your family? Or was taking Ren to the fundraiser a punishment?"

"I still can't believe you thought she was mine," David said, shaking his head.

"She looks exactly like you!" Evan said.

"She looks like Sam," David countered. "Who, OK yes, he looks like me. Or I look like him. He's my older brother, and I have an older sister as well."

"I'm the baby of the family too," Evan said. "But Heather's my only sister."

"You could have asked her about Ren," David said, "She's in the same troop as your niece."

"I was too angry," Evan admitted. "I thought I'd misread someone, again. You were the first person I'd wanted something serious with since Cam."

"I'd never do that to you," David said, looking concerned. "He was a bastard, forget about him. I can't believe he had you and was so stupid. When you came in here, that first day, I pretty much wanted to jump you right away. I just wasn't sure if you wanted to be jumped."

Evan took the carton out David's hand and set it on the bench. "You should have jumped," he said, before he kissed him, sliding his tongue into David's mouth, David's hand coming up to rest at the small of his back as he kissed him back, then drew away.

"Don't start something I know I can't finish," he said, sounding short of breath.

"You're no fun," Evan teased, elbowing David in the ribs.

"I'm a responsible Professor," David said. "It's students that are supposed to get caught making out in inappropriate places."

There was a snort, and they both turned to see a tutor Evan didn't recognise standing at the door to the greenhouse.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need you at the hearing, David."

"I'll e down in a couple of minutes," David said.

"Go," Evan prompted, jumping down off the bed. "I'll see you tomorrow.

"I really am sorry," David said, curving his hand around the nape of his neck and giving him a slow, thorough kiss.

Evan licked his lips, chasing the traces of black bean sauce and sesame.

"I'm sure you can find a way to make it up to me."

He gathered up the cartons and ignored the stare of the other tutor as he made his way out of the greenhouse.

***

Rodney was in a foul mood the next day, in contrast to his own happiness. He scowled at Evan when he pocked his head round the office door to say hello, and spent most of the morning on the phone berating people.

"Not even Kavanagh deserves that much bile," Evan remarked as he put the pile of lecture notes on the edge of Rodney's desk.

"It wasn't Kavanagh. It was the incompetent at the publishers who rearranged my meeting yesterday," Rodney said bitterly.

"OK," Evan said carefully, "but you didn't have to cancel the viewing, did you?"

"No, I saw the house. It's perfect," Rodney said glumly.

As Evan closed the door behind him, he could have sworn he heard Rodney mutter

"That's the problem."

 

The email popped up in his inbox mid-morning.

_I've got meetings all day, no time for lunch. Dinner tomorrow night instead? Labs are full of rumours about my late night hook ups ;-)_.

Evan grinning and rang David's office on the off-chance.

"So, what rumours might those be?" he asked when David answered.

"God, _students_," David groaned.

"You sound like Rodney," Evan teased.

"Heaven forbid," David laughed. "Don't worry, all reports make mention of your general dreaminess."

"As they should," Evan said, smiling into the phone.

"So, tomorrow?" David asked.

"Tomorrow. I'll come meet you and we can go to that new Thai place. Sound ok?"

"Sounds great. Well, I'd better go back to fighting the rumour machine."

"Make some stuff up, make me sound awesome," Evan said.

"I don't need to lie to do that," David said, indulgently.

***

"So, why the Air Force?" David asked later that night, over green curry and coconut rice.

"College, mostly," Evan said. "My Dad was sick a lot when I was a kid. Paying for me and Heather to go to school would have been difficult. Plus, I got to fly. It wasn't so bad."

"And that's where you met...Cam?" David asked.

Evan really didn't want to go into it, but he said, "Yes. We were together for about four years."

"I thought, maybe you and John were involved," David said. "You still talk about him, and he got you the job. There are pictures of him all through your sketchbook."

"Shep?" Evan laughed. "God no! I love the guy, but no. Just Cam, after college."

"So, did you leave because someone found out?" David asked.

"About me being gay? No; it was a medical discharge. I got shot down outside Kandahar."

"Well, I'm sorry you got shot down," David said, closing his hand over Evan's on the table top,"but I'm not sorry you got out."

"No, me neither," Evan said, smiling across at him, and lacing his fingers through David's. He couldn't believe he'd come so close to not having this.

***

David had driven them to the restaurant in his battered Honda, and so he dropped Evan back at his apartment.

"Well, good night," Evan said, not really meaning it. David leaned across and kissed him, big warm hands spanning his face, lanky frame pressing him back into the seat. Evan threaded his own hands through David's hair and kissed him back hungrily.

"So," he said, drawing away reluctantly, "You want to come up?"

"Gonna show me your etchings?"

"I was thinking we could continue this in bed, but I'm sure I've got some etchings somewhere," Evan said, smirking.

"Well, in that case, lead on," David said, and got out of the car.

"You like etchings?" Evan said, opening the front door.

David closed the door behind them, and pressed him up against the wall before sliding a thigh between Evan's legs. He ghost his lips up to Evan's ear and whispered

"Love them," before kissing him again.

***

"You're suspiciously chirpy," Rodney remarked sourly the next morning.

"Just had a good evening," Evan remarked placidly, remembering. David had been all large, gentle, clever hands and deep, wet kisses. They'd drifted to sleep wrapped around each other, and Evan had woken up to the smell of French toast as David made breakfast.

Rodney just snorted.

"Anyway," Evan said, feeling mischievous, "Shouldn't you be happy too? You've got your house sorted haven't you?"

"I'm ecstatic," Rodney snarled, looking anything but.

"Hey Evan, you left your bag in the car," David said from the open doorway. He held out the messenger bag.

"Thanks," Evan said, coming out from behind the desk to get it. He tilted his head up and kissed David briefly. He heard Rodney snort, and then slam the door of the inner office behind him.

"What's up with him?" David said.

"He's grouchy because he can't see what's right in front of him," Evan replied.

"Lucky neither of us are that dumb," David said, with a touch of sarcasm.

"Yeah, lucky," Evan grinned, and kissed him again.

***

"You sound happy," Heather said. She'd never got the hang of calling late on Saturdays. She seemed to think that if she had to be up, than everyone should be.

"I am," Evan said quietly, trying not to wake David. It was the weekend, after all and they had nothing to do all day but stay in bed and fool around. He was planning on cooking dinner later, even though, after a week of David-cooked meals, he knew he wasn't the chef in this relationship. "That guy I thought was lying to me? Turned out I got the wrong end of the stick."

"Do I get to meet him?" she asked.

"You might have already," Evan admitted. "His niece is in Letty's girl scout troupe- Ren Parrish?"

"David?" Heather asked, sounding surprised. "Evan, he's been single for years! You though Ren was his?"

"She looks just like him!" Evan hissed. "He bought her to the fundraiser! What was I supposed to think?"

"Oh hon," Heather said, mothering him as always "You should have asked me! I'm sorry you were upset. But you're ok now, right?"

Evan looked across at David, who was sleepily blinking his eyes open. David smiled at him, and snuggled closer.

"I'm more than OK," Evan said, squeezing David's hand as it intertwined with his own.

END


End file.
